New Article: “The Poverty Defense”

Poverty is correlated with crime, but it is widely assumed that it should not be a defense. In the 1970s, Judge David Bazelon challenged this assumption, proposing a rotten social background defense, that is, how growing up under circumstances of severe deprivation can subsequently impact a criminal defendant’s mental state and actions. Relatedly, other theorists have posited that poverty should be a defense to crime based on poverty’s coercive aspects or because society forfeits its right to condemn when it tolerates significant economic inequality. Critics counter that a poverty defense should not be adopted because it is not only inconsistent with American norms of individual responsibility, but also practically impossible. This vigorous debate has been deemed an ivory tower exercise. Yet scholars have entirely overlooked that a poverty defense is utilized in thousands of cases a year. In both civil and criminal child neglect cases, various states excuse conduct that would otherwise be neglect on account of a parent’s poverty. In short, a poverty defense is not hypothetical. Courts’ interpretations of the poverty defense in child neglect cases reflect the various theoretical strands posited by scholars. The case law reveals that a poverty defense is workable, but that its potential to help poor defendants is limited unless courts have a rich, multi-dimensional understanding of the causes and effects of poverty. This article explains how the poverty defense works in practice in child welfare cases, and can guide scholars, and more importantly, lawmakers and courts, in considering whether to extend a poverty defense to other areas of the law.

Books

Poverty Law Conference 2016

"When it comes to getting the HPV vaccine to protect against cervical cancer, teens below the poverty line are doing better than the rest. Among teenage girls ages 13 to 17 whose total family income was less than the federal poverty level for their family size, 67.2 percent have received the first dose of the human papillomavirus vaccine, compared to 57 […]

"To win science research competitions, which often herald college studies and careers in STEM disciplines, students first need to enter. But low-income students may lack the support they need to participate in those activities. Now the Society for Science & the Public (SSP) is piloting a new program specifically to recruit advisors who can advocate […]

"The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded a variety of grants totaling $14,252,365 to support the development of affordable workforce housing for low and moderate-income individuals, address homelessness, and to provide housing assistance and supportive services for low income individuals who are living with HIV/AIDS and the […]

"Portland city officials have chosen a Bay area affordable-housing specialist to own and run a 365-unit mixed-income apartment project in the South Waterfront community. The $93 million development is expected to bring 203 units of new affordable housing plus 162 market-rate units on the city's 2-acre parcel at 2095 S.W. River Parkway."

"New York is set to begin a $30 million program aimed at providing mental health services to low-income residents with little or no access to care. The program, Connections to Care, will tap existing community organizations that reach low-income residents but are not providing mental health services."

"The Maine Department of Education will receive an additional $60,000 in federal funds to help Maine high schoolers from low-income families afford Advanced Placement tests. Advanced Placement exams give students college credits before they enter a higher education institution, provided the student performs well on the test."

"A recent study shows low-income students have a harder time earning their diplomas — but not at UCF. The National Center for Education Statistics found that students with lower incomes are less likely to graduate from college. However, Director of Institutional Research Patricia Ramsey said low-income UCF students graduate at nearly the same rate as th […]